Fair Use in the U.S. Economy

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* Report: Fair Use in the U.S. Economy. By Thomas Rogers et al. Computer & Communications Industry Association, 2011

URL = http://cdn.ccianet.org/wp-content/uploads/library/CCIA-FairUseintheUSEconomy-2011.pdf

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Excerpt:

“The 2011 study, “Fair Use in the U.S. Economy,” which was commissioned by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, incorporates data from 2008 and 2009 found that despite the economic downturn, industries that rely on fair use exceptions to copyright law like technology and the news media remained steady compared to the rest of the U.S. economy.

Polis noted that this study comes as Congress is considering various legislation, including the PROTECT IP Act, which would strengthen copyright enforcement, while “weakening the underpinnings of the Internet.” Polis praised the study for bringing numbers to help balance the debate on copyright enforcement measures.

“These economic arguments are particularly important when there’s a lot at stake – jobs, jobs jobs,” Polis said. “That’s something at the top of the agenda for members of both parties.”

CCIA President & CEO Ed Black said copyright is also important, but policy must be balanced. “We have long known that these limitations on IP regulations are important for social purposes – they enable news coverage, research, academic and educational use, criticism and commentary. But we’ve more recently started to discover that an immense amount of economic activity also depends on these limitations and exceptions,” Black said.

Using the latest publicly available data (2009), and adapting a methodology developed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) this study finds the following about fair use industry growth and activity:

• Revenue – In 2008 and 2009, fair use industries – those industries that depend upon fair use and related limitations to copyright – generated revenue averaging $4.6 trillion, a 35 percent increase over 2002 revenue of $3.4 billion.

• Value-Added – Fair use-related industry “value added” to the U.S. economy averaged $2.4 trillion, approximately 17 percent of total U.S. current dollar GDP – roughly one-sixth of the economy.

• Employment – The fair use economy is vast, employing 17 million people – approximately one in eight U.S. workers – and generates a payroll averaging $1.2 trillion in 2008-2009, compared to $895 billion in 2002.” (http://www.ccianet.org/index.asp?sid=5&artid=245&evtflg=False)


More Information

* The 2010 Report: Thomas Rogers & Andrew Szamosszegi, Fair Use in the U.S.. Economy: Economic Contribution of Industries Relying on Fair Use, 2010

URL = http://www.ccianet.org/CCIA/files/ccLibraryFiles/Filename/000000000354/fair-use-study-final.pdf